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96-430: Pottery found on Mozambique Island indicates that the town was founded no later than the fourteenth century. According to tradition, the original Swahili population came from Kilwa . The town's rulers had links with the rulers of both Angoche and Quelimane by the fifteenth century. In 1514, Duarte Barbosa noted that the town had a Muslim population and that they spoke the same Swahili dialect as Angoche. The name of

192-581: A Bantu cultural core. DNA evidence has found that the Swahili people were of mixed African and Asian (particularly Persian) ancestry. The Kilwa Sultanate was a medieval sultanate centred at Kilwa , in modern-day Tanzania. At its height, its authority stretched over the entire length of the Swahili Coast , including Kenya. Since the 10th century, rulers of Kilwa would go on to build elaborate coral mosques and introduce copper coinage. Swahili,

288-566: A Bantu language with Arabic , Persian , and other Middle-Eastern and South Asian loanwords , later developed as a lingua franca for trade between the different peoples. Since the turn of the 20th century, Swahili has adopted numerous loanwords and calques from English, many of them originating during English colonial rule. The Swahili built Mombasa into a major port city and established trade links with other nearby city-states, as well as commercial centres in Persia, Arabia, and even India. By

384-596: A colonist's perspective is found in the memoir Out of Africa by Danish author Baroness Karen von Blixen-Finecke, published in 1937. By the 1930s, approximately 30,000 white settlers lived in the area and gained a political voice because of their contribution to the market economy. The central highlands were already home to over a million members of the Kikuyu people, most of whom had no land claims in European terms and lived as itinerant farmers. To protect their interests,

480-541: A great amount of land, in the plains where people did not put up much resistance. The Nandi peoples managed to oppose the Masai, while the Taveta peoples fled to the forests on the eastern edge of Mount Kilimanjaro , although they later were forced to leave the land due to the threat of smallpox . An outbreak of either rinderpest or pleuropneumonia greatly affected the Masai's cattle, while an epidemic of smallpox affected

576-461: A patient to soak a piece of paper containing verses of the Qur'an in water. With this ink infused water, literally containing the word of Allah , the patient will then wash his body or drink it to cure himself of his affliction. The only people permitted to become medicine men in the culture are prophets and teachers of Islam. There are also Swahili that practiced Christianity . The Swahili language

672-520: A process of Swahilization , this identity is extended to any person of African descent who speaks Swahili as their first language, is Muslim , and lives in a town on the main urban centres of most of modern-day Tanzania and coastal Kenya, northern Mozambique, or the Comoros. The name Swahili originated as an exonym for the language derived from Arabic : سواحل , romanized :  Sawāhil , lit.   'coasts', with WaUngwana as

768-469: A successful defense led by captain-general Dom Estêvão de Ataíde , and remained a major post for the Portuguese on their trips to India. It saw the trading of slaves , spices , and gold . Apart from the ancient fortifications, only half of the town is stone-built. The hospital, a majestic neo-classical building constructed in 1877 by the Portuguese, with a garden decorated with ponds and fountains,

864-533: A unified group of communities that developed into the first centre of coastal maritime culture. The coastal towns appear to have been engaged in Indian Ocean trade at this early period, and trade rapidly increased in importance and quantity between the mid-8th and the 11th century. A local 15th genealogy, the Kilwa Chronicle , identifies the rulers and founders of the costal cities as immigrants from

960-635: Is also close to two tourist highlights: Chocas Mar , a long beach about 40 km north of Ilha de Moçambique across the Mossuril Bay and Cabaceiras. Swahili people The Swahili people ( Swahili : WaSwahili , وَسوَحِيلِ) comprise mainly Bantu , Afro-Arab , and Comorian ethnic groups inhabiting the Swahili coast , an area encompassing the Zanzibar archipelago and mainland Tanzania's seaboard, littoral Kenya , northern Mozambique ,

1056-461: Is also home to several mosques and a Hindu temple . A 3 km bridge was erected in the 1960s to connect it to the mainland. The island in itself is not large, about 3 km long and between 200 and 500 metres wide. Most historical buildings are at the island's northern end. The majority of the residents live in reed houses in Makuti Town at the southern end of the island. The island

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1152-514: Is likewise completely lacking.". The most likely origin for the stories about the Shirazi is from Muslim inhabitants of the Lamu archipelago who moved south in the 10th and 11th centuries. They brought with them a coinage tradition and localized form of Islam. These Africans migrants seem to have developed a concept of Shirazi origin as they moved further southwards, near Malindi and Mombasa , along

1248-698: Is the native tongue, and it is a member of the Bantu subgroup of the Niger-Congo family. Its closest relatives include Comorian spoken on the Comoros Islands and the Mijikenda language of the Mijikenda people in Kenya. With its original speech community centred on Zanzibar and the coastal parts of Kenya and Tanzania , collectively a seaboard referred to as the Swahili Coast , Swahili became

1344-538: Is the second largest in eastern and central Africa, after Ethiopia, with Nairobi serving as a major regional commercial hub. Agriculture is the largest sector; tea and coffee are traditional cash crops, while fresh flowers are a fast-growing export. The service industry is also a major economic driver, particularly tourism. Kenya is a member of the East African Community trade bloc, though some international trade organisations categorise it as part of

1440-592: The Chapel of Nossa Senhora de Baluarte in 1522, now considered the oldest European building in the Southern Hemisphere . During the 16th century, the Fort São Sebastião was built, and the Portuguese settlement (now known as Stone Town ) became the capital of Portuguese East Africa . The island also became an important missionary centre. It withstood Dutch attacks in 1607 and 1608, in

1536-423: The Comoros Islands , and northwest Madagascar . The original Swahili distinguished themselves from other Bantu peoples by self-identifying as WaUngwana (the civilised ones). In certain regions (e.g., Lamu Island ), this differentiation is even more stratified in terms of societal grouping and dialect, hinting to the historical processes by which the Swahili have coalesced over time. More recently, however, through

1632-540: The Greater Horn of Africa . Africa is Kenya's largest export market, followed by the European Union. The Republic of Kenya is named after Mount Kenya . The earliest recorded version of the modern name was written by German explorer Johann Ludwig Krapf in the 19th century. While travelling with a Kamba caravan led by the long-distance trader Chief Kivoi , Krapf spotted the mountain peak and asked what it

1728-554: The Indian Ocean and the surrounding mainland. Mombasa was the capital of the British East Africa Protectorate , which included most of what is now Kenya and southwestern Somalia, from 1889 to 1907. Other important cities include Kisumu and Nakuru . Kenya is bordered by South Sudan to the northwest, Ethiopia to the north, Somalia to the east, Uganda to the west, Tanzania to the south, and

1824-510: The Indian Ocean to the southeast. Kenya's geography , climate and population vary widely, ranging from cold snow-capped mountaintops (Batian, Nelion and Point Lenana on Mount Kenya ) with vast surrounding forests, wildlife and fertile agricultural regions to temperate climates in western and rift valley counties and further on to dry less fertile arid and semi-arid areas and absolute deserts ( Chalbi Desert and Nyiri Desert ). Kenya's earliest inhabitants were hunter-gatherers , like

1920-562: The Indian Ocean slave trade in the Arabian Peninsula . Swahili fishermen of today still rely on the ocean to supply their primary source of income. Fish is sold to their inland neighbours in exchange for products of the interior. Although most Swahili living standards are far below that of upper hierarchy of the wealthiest nations, the Swahili are generally considered a relatively economically powerful group due to their history of trade. They are comparatively well-off. For instance,

2016-586: The Kalenjin , Samburu , Luo , Turkana , and Maasai . By the first millennium AD, Bantu -speaking farmers had moved into the region, initially along the coast. The Bantus originated in West Africa along the Benue River in what is now eastern Nigeria and western Cameroon . The Bantu migration brought new developments in agriculture and ironworking to the region. Bantu groups in Kenya include

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2112-606: The Kikuyu , Luhya , Kamba , Kisii , Meru , Kuria , Aembu , Ambeere , Wadawida -Watuweta, Wapokomo, and Mijikenda , among others. Notable prehistoric sites in the interior of Kenya include the (possibly archaeoastronomical) site Namoratunga on the west side of Lake Turkana and the walled settlement of Thimlich Ohinga in Migori County . The Kenyan coast had served as host to communities of ironworkers and Bantu subsistence farmers, hunters, and fishers who supported

2208-580: The Ming Dynasty , visited the East African coast on one of his last ' treasure voyages '. Malindi authorities also welcomed the Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama in 1498. During the 18th and 19th century C.E, the Masai people moved into central and southern Rift Valley plains of Kenya, from a region north of Lake Rudolf (now Lake Turkana ). Although there were not many, they managed to conquer

2304-524: The Pleistocene epoch. During excavations at Lake Turkana in 1984, palaeoanthropologist Richard Leakey , assisted by Kamoya Kimeu , discovered the Turkana Boy , a 1.6-million-year-old Homo erectus fossil. East Africa, including Kenya, is one of the earliest regions where modern humans ( Homo sapiens ) are believed to have lived. Evidence was found in 2018, dating to about 320,000 years ago, of

2400-570: The Republic of Kenya ( Swahili : Jamhuri ya Kenya ), is a country in East Africa . With a population of more than 47.6 million in the 2019 census, Kenya is the 28th-most-populous country in the world and 7th most populous in Africa. Kenya's capital and largest city is Nairobi , while its oldest and second-largest city, is the major port city of Mombasa , situated on Mombasa Island in

2496-707: The Somali Republic to the north. A ceasefire was eventually reached with the signing of the Arusha Memorandum in October 1967, but relative insecurity prevailed through 1969. To discourage further invasions, Kenya signed a defence pact with Ethiopia in 1969, which is still in effect. On 12 December 1964, the Republic of Kenya was proclaimed, and Jomo Kenyatta became Kenya's first president. Under Kenyatta, corruption became widespread throughout

2592-527: The endonym . Swahili people speak the Swahili language . Modern Standard Swahili is derived from the Kiunguja dialect of Zanzibar. Like many other world languages, Swahili has borrowed a large number of words from foreign languages, particularly administrative terms from Arabic , but also words from Portuguese , Persian , Hindi , Spanish , English and German . Other, older dialects like Kimrima and Kitumbatu have far fewer Arabic loanwords, indicative of

2688-547: The "Shirazi" were not Middle Eastern immigrants, but northern Swahili Muslims. They moved south, founding mosques, introducing coinage and elaborately carved inscriptions and mihrabs. They should be interpreted as indigenous African Muslims who played the politics of the Middle East to their advantage. Some still use this foundation myth a millennium later to assert their authority, even though the myth's context has long been forgotten. The Shirazi legend took on new importance in

2784-410: The 15th century, Portuguese voyager Duarte Barbosa claimed that "Mombasa is a place of great traffic and has a good harbour in which there are always moored small craft of many kinds and also great ships, both of which are bound from Sofala and others which come from Cambay and Melinde and others which sail to the island of Zanzibar." In the 17th century, the Swahili coast was conquered and came under

2880-470: The 1963 independence constitution with a new one. As a result, the elections of 2007 took place following the procedure set by the old constitution. Kibaki was reelected in highly contested elections marred by political and ethnic violence . The main opposition leader, Raila Odinga, claimed the election was rigged and that he was the rightfully elected president. In the ensuing violence, 1,500 people were killed and another 600,000 internally displaced, making it

2976-424: The 19th century, during the period of Omani domination. Claims of Shirazi ancestry were used to distance locals from Arab newcomers, since Persians are not viewed as Arabs but still have an exemplary Islamic pedigree. The emphasis that the Shirazi came very long ago and intermarried with indigenous locals ties this claim to the creation of convincing indigenous narratives about Swahili heritage without divorcing it from

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3072-415: The 2002 elections. Moi's plan to be replaced by Uhuru Kenyatta failed, and Mwai Kibaki , running for the opposition coalition "National Rainbow Coalition" ( NARC ), was elected president. David Anderson (2003) reports the elections were judged free and fair by local and international observers, and seemed to mark a turning point in Kenya's democratic evolution. In 2005, Kenyans rejected a plan to replace

3168-739: The Air Force. It was quickly suppressed by forces commanded by Chief of General Staff Mahamoud Mohamed , a veteran Somali military official. They included the General Service Unit (GSU)—a paramilitary wing of the police—and later the regular police. On the heels of the Garissa Massacre of 1980, Kenyan troops committed the Wagalla massacre in 1984 against thousands of civilians in Wajir County . An official probe into

3264-513: The Embu call it "Kirinyaa". All three names have the same meaning. Ludwig Krapf recorded the name as both Kenia and Kegnia . Some have said that this was a precise notation of the African pronunciation / ˈ k ɛ n j ə / . An 1882 map drawn by Joseph Thompsons, a Scottish geologist and naturalist, indicated Mt. Kenya as Mt. Kenia. The mountain's name was accepted, pars pro toto , as

3360-646: The Indian Ocean. The Swahili have played a vital role as middle man between southeast, central, and South Africa and to the outside world. Trade contacts have been noted as early as 100 CE by early Roman writers who visited the Southeast African coast in the 1st and 2nd centuries CE. Trade routes extended from Kenya to Tanzania into modern day Congo , along which goods were brought to the coasts and were sold to Arab, Indian, and Portuguese traders. Historical and archaeological records attest to Swahilis being prolific maritime merchants and sailors who sailed

3456-522: The Masai themselves. After the death of the Masai Mbatian , the chief laibon (medicine man), the Masai split into warring factions. The Masai caused much strife in the areas they conquered; however, cooperation between such groups as the Luo people , Luhya people , and Gusii people is evidenced by shared vocabulary for modern implements and similar economic regimes. Although Arab traders remained in

3552-546: The Mrima coast. The longstanding trade connections with the Persian gulf gave credence to these myths. In addition, because most Muslim societies are patrilineal, one can claim distant identities through paternal lines despite phenotypic and somatic evidence to the contrary. The so-called Shirazi tradition represents the arrival of Islam in these eras, one reason it has proven so long lasting. Extant mosques and coins demonstrate that

3648-456: The Persian city of Shirazi , in the 11th century. This forms the basis of the Shirazi era origin myth that proliferated along the coast at the turn of the millennium. A 2022 DNA study obtained samples from 80 Muslim graves, from cities across the region, found the maternal ancestry of the studied population was primarily of East African lineages, principally Bantu and Pastoral Neolithic, while

3744-825: The Protectorate of Kenya so that all of Kenya would become one sovereign state. In this way, Kenya became an independent country under the Kenya Independence Act 1963 of the United Kingdom. On 12 December 1964, Kenya became a republic under the name "Republic of Kenya". Concurrently, the Kenyan army fought the Shifta War against ethnic Somali rebels inhabiting the Northern Frontier District who wanted to join their kin in

3840-501: The Southeast African coast around the 9th century, coincident to Bantu traders both settling on the coast and tapping into the Indian Ocean trade networks. The Swahili people follow the Sunni denomination of Islam. Large numbers of Swahili undertake the Hajj and Umrah from Tanzania, Kenya, and Mozambique. Traditional Islamic dress such as the jilbab and thob are also popular among

3936-530: The Southeast African coastline to lands as far away as Arabia , Persia , Madagascar , India , and China . Chinese pottery and Arabian beads have been found in the ruins of Great Zimbabwe . During the apogee of the Middle Ages, ivory and slaves became a substantial source of revenue. Captives sold via the Zanzibar slave trade by Arab slave traders ended up in Portuguese Brazil or via

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4032-457: The Swahili origin myth, indicating that "Asian ancestry includes components associated with Persia and India, with 80–90% of the Asian DNA originating from Persian men." The modern Swahili people speak the Swahili language as a mother tongue, which belongs to the Bantu branch of the Niger-Congo family. The language contains loan words from Arabic . Islam established its presence on

4128-539: The Swahili. The Swahili also are known for their use of divination, which has adopted some syncretic features from underlying traditional indigenous beliefs. For instance, they believe in djinn , and many men wear protective amulets featuring verses from the Qu'ran. Divination is practiced through Qur'anic readings. Often the diviner incorporates verses from the Qur'an into treatments for certain diseases. On occasion, he instructs

4224-561: The UK and the colony led to the Mau Mau revolution , which began in 1952, and the declaration of independence in 1963. After independence, Kenya remained a member of the Commonwealth of Nations . The current constitution was adopted in 2010 and replaced the 1963 independence constitution . Kenya is a presidential representative democratic republic, in which elected officials represent

4320-473: The United Kingdom. Kenya itself was the site of fighting between Allied forces and Italian troops in 1940–41, when Italian forces invaded. Wajir and Malindi were bombed as well. From October 1952 to December 1959, Kenya was in a state of emergency arising from the Mau Mau rebellion against British rule. The Mau Mau, also known as the Kenya Land and Freedom Army, were primarily Kikuyu people. During

4416-615: The United Nations has stated that the island of Zanzibar has a 25% higher per capita GDP than the rest of Tanzania. This economic influence has led to the continued spread of their culture and language throughout East Africa. Thought by many early scholars to be essentially of Arabic or Persian style and origin, some contemporary academics are suggesting that archaeological, written, linguistic, and cultural evidence might suggest an African genesis which would be accompanied only later by an enduring Arabic and Islamic influences in

4512-466: The Waswahili themselves. Citation: The Swahili people originate from Bantu inhabitants of the coast of Southeast Africa, in Kenya, Tanzania and Mozambique. These Bantu-speaking agriculturalists settled the coast at the outset of the first millennium. Archaeological finds at Fukuchani, on the north-west coast of Zanzibar, indicate a settled agricultural and fishing community from the 6th century CE at

4608-509: The area, the earlier occupants had been displaced by incoming Bantu and Nilotic populations. More people from different parts of the Persian Gulf also continued to migrate to the Swahili coast over several centuries thereafter, and these formed the modern Shirazi. The second theory on Shirazi origins also posits that they came from Persia, but first settled in the Horn of Africa . In

4704-466: The area, trade routes were disrupted by the hostile Masai, though there was trade in ivory between these factions. The first foreigners to successfully get past the Masai were Johann Ludwig Krapf and Johannes Rebmann , two German missionaries who established a mission in Rabai , not too far from Mombasa . The pair were the first Europeans to sight Mount Kenya . The colonial history of Kenya dates from

4800-598: The article by stating the cost of the stability in terms of human rights abuses. The opposition party started by Oginga Odinga — Kenya People's Union (KPU)—was banned in 1969 after the Kisumu Massacre and KPU leaders were still in detention without trial in gross violation of the U.N. Declaration of Human Rights . The Kenya Students Union, Jehovah Witnesses and all opposition parties were outlawed. Kenyatta ruled until his death on 22 August 1978. After Kenyatta died, Daniel arap Moi became president. He retained

4896-453: The atrocities was later ordered in 2011. The election held in 1988 saw the advent of the mlolongo (queuing) system, where voters were supposed to line up behind their favoured candidates instead of casting a secret ballot. This was seen as the climax of a very undemocratic regime and led to widespread agitation for constitutional reform. Several contentious clauses, including the one that allowed for only one political party, were changed in

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4992-475: The beginning of the end of Moi's leadership and the rule of KANU. Moi retained the presidency and George Saitoti became vice president. Although it held on to power, KANU won 100 seats and lost 88 seats to the six opposition parties. The 1992 elections marked the beginning of multiparty politics after more than 25 years of KANU rule. Following skirmishes in the aftermath of the elections, 5,000 people were killed and another 75,000 displaced from their homes. In

5088-573: The bulk of the skilled labour required for construction. They and most of their descendants later remained in Kenya and formed the core of several distinct Indian communities, such as the Ismaili Muslim and Sikh communities. While building the railway through Tsavo , a number of the Indian railway workers and local African labourers were attacked by two lions known as the Tsavo maneaters . At

5184-546: The centuries, the Kenyan coast has played host to many merchants and explorers. Among the cities that line the Kenyan coast is Malindi. It has remained an important Swahili settlement since the 14th century and once rivalled Mombasa for dominance in the African Great Lakes region. Malindi has traditionally been a friendly port city for foreign powers. In 1414, the Chinese trader and explorer Zheng He , representing

5280-585: The coast and the interior between 250 BC and 500 AD. European contact began in 1500 AD with the Portuguese Empire , and effective colonisation of Kenya began in the 19th century during the European exploration of Africa . Modern-day Kenya emerged from a protectorate established by the British Empire in 1895 and the subsequent Kenya Colony , which began in 1920. Numerous disputes between

5376-614: The coastal hotel business, with Kenyatta personally owning the Leonard Beach Hotel. Kenyatta's mixed legacy was highlighted at the 10-year anniversary of Kenya's independence. A December 1973 article in The New York Times praised Kenyatta's leadership and Kenya for emerging as a model of pragmatism and conservatism. Kenya's GDP had increased at an annual rate of 6.6%, higher than the population growth rate of more than 3%. But Amnesty International responded to

5472-606: The colonial administration's crackdown, over 11,000 freedom fighters had been killed, along with 100 British troops and 2,000 Kenyan loyalist soldiers. War crimes were committed on both sides of the conflict, including the publicised Lari massacre and the Hola massacre . The governor requested and obtained British and African troops, including the King's African Rifles . The British began counter-insurgency operations. In May 1953, General Sir George Erskine took charge as commander-in-chief of

5568-847: The colony's armed forces, with the personal backing of Winston Churchill . The capture of Waruhiu Itote (nom de guerre "General China" ) on 15 January 1954 and the subsequent interrogation led to a better understanding of the Mau Mau command structure for the British. Operation Anvil opened on 24 April 1954, after weeks of planning by the army with the approval of the War Council. The operation effectively placed Nairobi under military siege. Nairobi's occupants were screened and suspected Mau Mau supporters moved to detention camps. More than 80,000 Kikuyu were held in detention camps without trial, often subject to brutal treatment. The Home Guard formed

5664-430: The constitution to allow Moi to remain president for another term. Subsequently, Moi stood for reelection and won a 5th term in 1997. His win was strongly criticised by his major opponents, Kibaki and Odinga , as fraudulent. Following this win, Moi was constitutionally barred from another presidential term. Beginning in 1998, he attempted to influence the country's succession politics to have Uhuru Kenyatta elected in

5760-413: The core of the government's strategy as it was composed of loyalist Africans, not foreign forces such as the British Army and King's African Rifles. The capture of Dedan Kimathi on 21 October 1956 in Nyeri signified the ultimate defeat of the Mau Mau and essentially ended the military offensive. During this period, substantial governmental changes to land tenure occurred. The most important of these

5856-428: The country. The building of the railway was resisted by some ethnic groups—notably the Nandi , led by Orkoiyot Koitalel Arap Samoei from 1890 to 1900—but the British eventually built it. The Nandi were the first ethnic group to be put in a native reserve to stop them from disrupting the building of the railway. During the railway construction era, there was a significant influx of Indian workers, who provided

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5952-427: The direct rule of the Omani Arabs , who expanded the slave trade to meet the demands of plantations in Oman and Zanzibar . Initially, these traders came mainly from Oman, but later many came from Zanzibar (such as Tippu Tip ). In addition, the Portuguese started buying slaves from the Omani and Zanzibari traders in response to the interruption of the transatlantic slave trade by British abolitionists. Throughout

6048-441: The early emergence of modern behaviours , including long-distance trade networks (involving goods such as obsidian), the use of pigments, and the possible making of projectile points. The authors of three 2018 studies on the site suggest that complex and modern behaviours had already begun in Africa around the time of the emergence of Homo sapiens . The first inhabitants of present-day Kenya were hunter-gatherer groups, akin to

6144-411: The economy with agriculture, fishing, metal production, and trade with foreign countries. These communities formed the earliest city-states in the region, which were collectively known as Azania . By the 1st century CE, many of the city-states such as Mombasa , Malindi , and Zanzibar began to establish trading relations with Arabs . This led to the increased economic growth of the Swahili states,

6240-434: The establishment of a German Empire protectorate over the Sultan of Zanzibar 's coastal possessions in 1885, followed by the arrival of the Imperial British East Africa Company in 1888. Imperial rivalry was prevented by the Heligoland–Zanzibar Treaty , Germany handed its East African coastal holdings to Britain in 1890. The transfer by Germany to Britain was followed by the building of the Uganda Railway passing through

6336-431: The following years. In 1991, Kenya transitioned to a multiparty political system after 26 years of single-party rule. On 28 October 1992, Moi dissolved parliament, five months before the end of his term. As a result, preparations began for all elective seats in parliament as well as the president. The election was scheduled to take place on 7 December 1992, but delays led to its postponement to 29 December. Apart from KANU,

6432-415: The form of trade and an exchange of ideas. Upon visiting Kilwa in 1331, the great Berber explorer Ibn Battuta was impressed by the substantial beauty that he encountered there. He describes its inhabitants as "Zanj, jet-black in colour, and with tattoo marks on their faces", and notes that "Kilwa is a very fine and substantially built town, and all its buildings are of wood" (his description of Mombasa

6528-460: The government, civil service, and business community. Kenyatta and his family were tied up with this corruption as they enriched themselves through the mass purchase of property after 1963. Their acquisitions in the Central, Rift Valley, and Coast Provinces aroused great anger among landless Kenyans. His family used his presidential position to circumvent legal or administrative obstacles to acquiring property. The Kenyatta family also heavily invested in

6624-413: The ideals of being a maritime-centred culture. There are two main theories about the origins of the Shirazi subgroup of the Swahili people. One thesis based on oral tradition states that immigrants from the Shiraz region in southwestern Iran directly settled various mainland ports and islands on the eastern Africa seaboard beginning in the tenth century. By the time of the Persian settlement in

6720-455: The introduction of Islam , Arabic influences on the Swahili Bantu language , cultural diffusion , as well as the Swahili city-states becoming members of a larger trade network. Many historians had long believed that the city-states were established by Arab or Persian traders, but archaeological evidence has led scholars to recognise the city-states as an indigenous development which, though subjected to foreign influence due to trade, retained

6816-416: The island ( Portuguese : Moçambique , pronounced [musɐ̃ˈbiki] ) is derived from Ali Musa Mbiki ( Mussa Bin Bique ), sultan of the island in the times of Vasco da Gama . This name was subsequently taken to the mainland country which is modern-day Mozambique , and the island was renamed Ilha de Moçambique (Island of Mozambique). The Portuguese established a port and naval base in 1507 and built

6912-765: The island include the Palace and Chapel of São Paulo, built in 1640 as a Jesuit College and subsequently used as the Governor's Residence, now a museum; the Museum of Sacred Art, housed in the Church of the Misericórdia run by the House of Mercy, displaying an excellent Makonde crucifix ; the Church of Santo António; the Church of the Misericórdia; and the Chapel of Nossa Senhora de Baluarte . The island, now entirely urbanised,

7008-606: The land, capturing British supplies, and remaining undefeated. He eventually surrendered in Northern Rhodesia (today Zambia) 14 days after the Armistice was signed in 1918. To chase von Lettow, the British deployed the British Indian Army troops from India but needed large numbers of porters to overcome the formidable logistics of transporting supplies far into the interior on foot. The Carrier Corps

7104-410: The language's fundamental Bantu nature. Kiswahili served as coastal East Africa's lingua franca and trade language from the ninth century onward. Zanzibari traders' intensive push into the African interior from the late eighteenth century induced the adoption of Swahili as a common language throughout much of East Africa . Thus, Kiswahili is the most spoken African language, used by far more than just

7200-498: The latest. The considerable amount of daub found indicates timber buildings, and shell beads, bead grinders, and iron slag have been found at the site. There is evidence for limited engagement in long-distance trade: a small amount of imported pottery has been found, less than 1% of total pottery finds, mostly from the Gulf and dated to the 5th to 8th century. The similarity to contemporary sites such as Mkokotoni and Dar es Salaam indicate

7296-400: The main mosques. Before 1500 CE, the inhabitants carried both African, as well as Asia/Near East ancestry, which was mainly Persian-related (with more than half of their DNA originating from African ancestors and another large proportion of DNA coming from Asian ancestors). The male ancestors of elite Swahili people were a mix of approximately 83% Asian and 17% African; about 90% of the Asian DNA

7392-545: The majority of the male heritage was Asian. Some academics reject the authenticity of the primarily Persian origin claim. They point to the relative rarity of Persian customs and speech, lack of documentary evidence of Shia Islam in the Muslim literature on the Swahili Coast, and instead a historic abundance of Sunni Arab -related evidence. The documentary evidence, like the archaeological, "for early Persian settlement

7488-586: The modern Khoisan speakers. These people were later largely replaced by agropastoralist Cushitic (ancestral to Kenya's Cushitic speakers) from the Horn of Africa . During the early Holocene , the regional climate shifted from dry to wetter conditions, providing an opportunity for the development of cultural traditions such as agriculture and herding , in a more favourable environment. Around 500 BC, Nilotic -speaking pastoralists (ancestral to Kenya's Nilotic speakers) started migrating from present-day southern Sudan into Kenya. Nilotic groups in Kenya include

7584-571: The name of the country. It did not come into widespread official use during the early colonial period, when the country was referred to as the East African Protectorate . The official name was changed to the Colony of Kenya in 1920. Hominids such as Homo habilis (1.8 to 2.5 million years ago) and Homo erectus (1.9 million to 350,000 years ago) are possible direct ancestors of modern Homo sapiens , and lived in Kenya in

7680-468: The next five years, many political alliances were formed in preparation for the next elections. In 1994, Jaramogi Oginga Odinga died and several coalitions joined his FORD Kenya party to form a new party, United National Democratic Alliance. This party was plagued with disagreements. In 1995, Richard Leakey formed the Safina party, but it was denied registration until November 1997. In 1996, KANU revised

7776-608: The outbreak of World War I in August 1914, the governors of British East Africa (as the protectorate was generally known) and German East Africa initially agreed on a truce in an attempt to keep the young colonies out of direct hostilities. But Lieutenant Colonel Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck , the German military commander, determined to tie down as many British resources as possible. Completely cut off from Germany, Lettow-Vorbeck conducted an effective guerrilla warfare campaign , living off

7872-617: The people and the president is the head of state and government. Kenya is a member of the United Nations , the Commonwealth , World Bank , International Monetary Fund , World Trade Organization , COMESA , International Criminal Court , as well as other international organisations. It is also a major non-NATO ally of the United States . With a GNI of 1,840, Kenya is a lower-middle-income economy. Kenya's economy

7968-521: The present-day Hadza people . According to archaeological dating of associated artifacts and skeletal material, Cushitic speakers first settled in Kenya's lowlands between 3,200 and 1,300 BC, a phase known as the Lowland Savanna Pastoral Neolithic . Nilotic -speaking pastoralists (ancestral to Kenya's Nilotic speakers) began migrating from present-day South Sudan into Kenya around 500 BC. Bantu people settled at

8064-416: The presidency, running unopposed in elections held in 1979, 1983 ( snap elections ), and 1988, all of which were held under the single-party constitution. The 1983 elections were held a year early, and were a direct result of a failed military coup on 2 August 1982. The 1982 coup was masterminded by a low-ranking Air Force serviceman, Senior Private Hezekiah Ochuka , and was staged mainly by enlisted men of

8160-404: The ruling party, other parties represented in the elections included FORD Kenya and FORD Asili. This election was marked by large-scale intimidation of opponents and harassment of election officials. It resulted in an economic crisis propagated by ethnic violence as the president was accused of rigging electoral results to retain power. This election was a turning point for Kenya as it signified

8256-403: The settlers banned the growing of coffee and introduced a hut tax, and the landless were granted less and less land in exchange for their labour. A massive exodus to the cities ensued as their ability to make a living from the land dwindled. By the 1950s, there were 80,000 white settlers living in Kenya. Throughout World War II , Kenya was an important source of manpower and agriculture for

8352-514: The tongue of the urban class in the African Great Lakes region and eventually went on to serve as a lingua franca during the post-colonial period. In 2022, DNA was extracted, analyzed and compared in 80 samples taken from people buried between 1250 and 1800 CE in towns that were mostly along the Swahili Coast in modern Kenya and Tanzania. It is believed that these people were Swahili elites because they were buried in cemeteries near

8448-525: The twelfth century, as the gold trade with the distant entrepot of Sofala on the Mozambique seaboard grew, the settlers are then said to moved southwards to various coastal towns in Kenya, Tanzania, northern Mozambique and the Indian Ocean islands . By 1200 CE, they had established local sultanates and mercantile networks on the islands of Kilwa , Mafia and Comoros along the Swahili coast, and in northwestern Madagascar . More recent studies support

8544-594: The willingness of Somalis in Kenya to join Somalia . The result of the referendum showed that 86% of Somalis in Kenya wanted to join Somalia , yet the British colonial administration rejected the result and the Somalis remained in Kenya. The first direct elections for native Kenyans to the Legislative Council took place in 1957. Despite British hopes of handing power to "moderate" local rivals, it

8640-407: Was Persian, and the rest was Indian. The female ancestors of Swahili elites were about 97% African and 3% Asian. This is consistent with the narrative of the Kilwa Chronicle . After this time, Arabian ancestry becomes more prevalent, which correlates with the archaeological and historical record of interactions with Southern Arabia ( Oman ). For centuries the Swahili depended greatly on trade from

8736-439: Was called. Kivoi told him " Kĩ-Nyaa " or " Kĩlĩma- Kĩinyaa ", probably because the pattern of black rock and white snow on its peaks reminded him of the feathers of the male ostrich. In archaic Kikuyu , the word 'nyaga' or more commonly 'manyaganyaga' is used to describe an extremely bright object. The Agikuyu, who inhabit the slopes of Mt. Kenya, call it Kĩrĩma Kĩrĩnyaga (literally 'the mountain with brightness') in Kikuyu , while

8832-529: Was essentially the same). Kimaryo points out that the distinctive tattoo marks are common among the Makonde . Architecture included arches, courtyards, isolated women's quarters, the mihrab , towers, and decorative elements on the buildings themselves. Many ruins may still be observed near the southern Kenyan port of Malindi in the Gede ruins ( the lost city of Gede/Gedi ). Kenya Kenya , officially

8928-512: Was formed and ultimately mobilised over 400,000 Africans, contributing to their long-term politicisation. In 1920, the East Africa Protectorate was turned into a colony and renamed Kenya after its highest mountain. During the early part of the 20th century, the interior central highlands were settled by British and other European farmers, who became wealthy farming coffee and tea. One depiction of this period of change from

9024-581: Was repainted white after the Mozambican Civil War . For many years, it was the biggest hospital south of the Sahara. With the opening of the Suez Canal , the island's fortunes waned. In 1898, the capital was moved to Lourenço Marques (now Maputo ) on the mainland. By the middle of the 20th century, the new harbour of Nacala took most of the remaining business. Other notable buildings on

9120-536: Was the Kenya African National Union (KANU) of Jomo Kenyatta that formed a government. The Colony of Kenya and the Protectorate of Kenya each came to an end on 12 December 1963, with independence conferred on all of Kenya. The U.K. ceded sovereignty over the Colony of Kenya. The Sultan of Zanzibar agreed that simultaneous with independence for the colony, he would cease to have sovereignty over

9216-549: Was the Swynnerton Plan , which was used to both reward loyalists and punish Mau Mau. This left roughly 1/3rd of Kikuyu bereft of any tenancy land arrangement and thus propertyless at the time of independence. Before Kenya got its independence, Somali ethnic people in present-day Kenya in the areas of Northern Frontier Districts petitioned Her Majesty's Government not to be included in Kenya. The colonial government decided to hold Kenya's first referendum in 1962 to check

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